Discrimination Experiences of Latino Health Care Workers in the US Health Care System

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether Afro-Latino ancestry, nativity, and survey completion language among Latino health care workers are associated with experiences of workplace discrimination, witnessing discrimination against patients, and observing lower-quality care due to patients' race or ethnicity. RESEARCH DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study using nationally representative survey data from the 2023 Commonwealth Fund, African American Research Collaborative Healthcare Workforce Survey, conducted from March 14 to April 5, 2023. RESULTS: Among Latino health care workers, 49.1% reported personally experiencing discrimination, 57.6% reported witnessing discrimination against patients, and 48.6% reported observing lower-quality care. In adjusted logistic regression models, reporting Afro-Latino ancestry was associated with 2.58 times the odds (95% CI: 1.66-4.02, P<0.01) of reporting personal experiences of discrimination, 2.13 times the odds (95% CI: 1.35-3.38, P<0.01) of reporting witnessing discrimination against patients, and 1.78 times the odds (95% CI: 1.13-2.79, P<0.05) of reporting observing lower-quality care due to a patient's race or ethnicity, compared with workers not reporting Afro-Latino ancestry. Foreign-born status and Spanish-language survey completion were not significantly associated with any of the 3 outcomes. CONCLUSION: Reported discrimination experiences among Latino health care workers vary substantially by Afro-Latino ancestry. Workers reporting Afro-Latino ancestry face and observe higher levels of racial discrimination, highlighting the importance of disaggregating Latino populations in research and policy efforts aimed at reducing inequities in health care delivery and the health care workforce.